if Formula

Wow, this is an impressive formula 🙂🚀 I love seeing stuff like this. Thanks for sharing.

I think I saw this on the wall at Roswell! Very nice Bryan!!!! the student has become the ninja formula master1

Thanks Gents, Fun thing is that it actually works too! LOL :)

Are you saying it wouldn't properly calculate unless you had an open parenthesis before the first if statement?

I ran into trouble when I was messing around with some if formulas a couple weeks back myself, but haven't had time to go back and try to work on it some more. I wonder if this was part of the reason

Jes, in my experience I am using the if formula to calculate my "cut width" depending on the depth. In common terms I would always calculate "length x width x height" (width as 2nd statement) but I found out that I need to have the width (if statement) as the first calculation in order for it to calculate correctly. So realistically it is calculating "width x height x lenght". I obviously added more calculations to that total formula but that was the cliffs notes. It's no biggie either way, just an observation, hope it helps. Also to your question, yes when combining formulas it does need to be encapsulated with (). If it is a stand alone formula, it does not need to be encapsulated.

Thanks, that's good to know if I ever get around to revisiting it

@Bryan

Congrats on your good work. I have tried to add an explanation of your formula. Please feel free to correct anything. This helps other users to understand your Complex formula

This formula appears to be calculating excavation volumes for pipe installation projects, likely for utilities or drainage systems. Let me break down what it's doing:

Main Purpose

The formula calculates the total cubic footage of material that needs to be excavated for pipe installation, using different calculation methods based on the cut height.

How It Works

Conditional Logic:

• If [Cut Height Calc] <= 4.99, 2.25, 4, it uses a trapezoidal excavation method
• Otherwise, it uses a rectangular excavation method

Trapezoidal Method (for shallower cuts):

((([Starting Rim] - [Starting Invert]) + ([Ending Rim] - [Ending Invert])) / 2) 
× [Pipe Wall (ft)] 
× ([Bedding (ft)] - [Subgrade (in)] / 12) 
× [Linear:FT] / 27

Rectangular Method (for deeper cuts):

[Linear:FT] / 27 - (([Green Space] × (same trapezoidal calculation)) / 27) 
- (([Radius (ft)] × 2) - [Pipe Wall (ft)] - [CA-7 Above Pipe (ft)]) / 27

Key Components

• Rim to Invert: Calculates the depth from ground surface to pipe bottom
• Pipe Wall: Width of the excavation trench
• Bedding: Depth of bedding material below the pipe
• Subgrade: Adjustment for subgrade material (converted from inches to feet)
• Linear:FT: Length of the pipe run
• Division by 27: Converts cubic feet to cubic yards
• Green Space: Appears to be an area adjustment factor
• CA-7 Above Pipe: Refers to a specific type of aggregate material above the pipe

This formula would typically be used by contractors or engineers to estimate excavation quantities for bidding and material planning purposes.

Sam,

Great break down explanation of the components and factors in this particular formula. One other item that may help others out is this attached pic which shows that I have build "custom properties" for data input at the takeoff level. Notice that data is NOT inputted at the item level (left blank), that is unless an "Item Variable" is created, that must then be inputted at the item level (ex. [Cut Height Calc])

@Bryan

Thanks for helping out the community ✅👍🔥